It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas! (Except I have palm trees instead of snow.)

Hello everyone!
Just want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas!
It has been pretty busy here with lots of Christmas parties and visitors and such, so I haven't taken the time to write out a real update.
I hope you all have a fantastic time celebrating Christmas! It is a wonderful time to remember how much God loves us---He was willing to leave everything to become human, knowing that his human life would be one far away from the comforts of Heaven and the glory of His Father, knowing that he would suffer and hurt and die, knowing that everyone would reject Him---He was willing to do all of that so that we would have a chance to live with Him forever. That certainly took an unfathomable amount of love!

Anyway, enjoy celebrating Jesus! :)  Miss you all. I will work on a real update soon!!

Greetings!

Happy Thai Independence Day everyone!
I realized that it's probably about time for an update, and I might as well start with some current events. Some of you have probably heard that there's been a lot of rioting going on here lately. The government is pretty corrupt, and lots of people have decided to do something about it. So there have been protests and demonstrations in Bangkok for a few weeks now. (Maybe longer than that, I'm not sure.) The people protesting aren't just poor people from small villages, or farmers, or workers like that. They are teachers and doctors and lawyers and university students and businessmen. They are people who have power and can make a difference. And they have made a difference. Yesterday, the day before Thai's celebrate their Independence day, approximately five million people poured out into the streets of Bangkok, effectively shutting down the city. I wasn't there, but from what I heard no one could do anything about it because there were so many people. The police couldn't get through, no one could walk or drive through the streets. So right now there is basically no government. "The people" are in control, and the prime minister is in hiding. Not really sure what sort of government will come out of it, but the protesters have said that they will not stop protesting until the current government has been stopped.
So that is the big picture of what is going on in Thailand. Here at the Timothy House, nothing that crazy has been happening. (Thankfully!) I have been doing a lot of English teaching---I'm teaching at two different schools now. There are a few of us who will be trading off what days we teach, but right now I'm teaching Monday through Friday. I'm starting to enjoy it a little--I didn't really at first, but I'm not as intimidated I think. I'm starting to get used to things, and getting to know the kids. They're fun! :)
When I'm not teaching, there's a lot to do! I've done a lot of hanging out with the kids who live here at the Timothy House, gone to a few Thai body ceremonies (funerals) and one wedding. I've done a lot of driving around with Phimpha to visit people and help out with her ministry work. Seen a bunch of elephants walking along the road and through our backyard, monkeys eating fruit on the side of the road, and one python and one komodo dragon crossing the road in the forest. I'm starting to get Thai worship songs stuck in my head, so I'll have to learn the words so I can sing along...
We're also starting to make Christmas plans! I guess we'll have a few Christmas events in the area that we'll be going to! Since Thailand is a Buddhist country, most people don't celebrate Christmas, but many of the churches in the area will be putting on parties or other events that we will attend. So that will be fun! We'll do a few parties and some Christmas caroling, and some ice cream eating...Much different than back home, but good anyway! :)
I hope all is going well back in the states! I'm sure you're all just as busy with work/school/Christmas preparations! Enjoy!